Head-To-Head: Ireland v Italy

2019 GUINNESS SIX NATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sunday, February 24

ITALY (6th) v IRELAND (5th), Stadio Olimpico, 4pm local time/3pm Irish time (live Virgin Media One/ITV/UTV/FR2/DMAX/NBC/RTÉ Radio 1/BBC Radio Ulster/IRFU Live Blog)

ITALY: Jayden Hayward (Benetton Rugby); Edoardo Padovani (Zebre), Michele Campagnaro (Wasps), Luca Morisi (Benetton Rugby), Angelo Esposito (Benetton Rugby); Tommaso Allan (Benetton Rugby), Tito Tebaldi (Benetton Rugby); Andrea Lovotti (Zebre), Leonardo Ghiraldini (Toulouse) (capt), Simone Ferrari (Benetton Rugby), Federico Ruzza (Benetton Rugby), Dean Budd (Benetton Rugby), Jimmy Tuivaiti (Zebre), Maxime Mbandà (Zebre), Braam Steyn (Benetton Rugby).

Replacements: Luca Bigi (Benetton Rugby), Cherif Traoré (Benetton Rugby), Tiziano Pasquali (Benetton Rugby), David Sisi (Zebre), Alessandro Zanni (Benetton Rugby), Guglielmo Palazzani (Zebre), Ian McKinley (Benetton Rugby), Tommaso Castello (Zebre).

IRELAND: Rob Kearney (UCD/Leinster); Keith Earls (Young Munster/Munster), Chris Farrell (Young Munster/Munster), Bundee Aki (Galwegians/Connacht), Jacob Stockdale (Lurgan/Ulster); Jonathan Sexton (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Conor Murray (Garryowen/Munster); Dave Kilcoyne (UL Bohemians/Munster), Sean Cronin (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), Tadhg Furlong (Clontarf/Leinster), Ultan Dillane (Corinthians/Connacht), Quinn Roux (Galwegians/Connacht), Peter O’Mahony (Cork Constitution/Munster) (capt), Sean O’Brien (UCD/Leinster), Jordi Murphy (Lansdowne/Ulster).

Replacements: Niall Scannell (Dolphin/Munster), Jack McGrath (St. Mary’s College/Leinster), John Ryan (Cork Constitution/Munster), Iain Henderson (Queen’s University/Ulster), Josh van der Flier (UCD/Leinster), John Cooney (Terenure College/Ulster), Jack Carty (Buccaneers/Connacht), Andrew Conway (Garryowen/Munster).

Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Wayne Barnes, Karl Dickson (both England)
Television Match Official: Graham Hughes (England)

Head-To-Head:

Played – 29
Italy Won – 4
Ireland Won – 25

Ireland v Italy – Results Since 2000:

2000: Ireland won 60-13, Dublin
2001: Ireland won 41-22, Rome
2002: Ireland won 32-17, Dublin
2003: Ireland won 37-13, Rome; Ireland won 61-6, Limerick
2004: Ireland won 19-3, Dublin
2005: Ireland won 28-17, Rome
2006: Ireland won 26-16, Dublin
2007: Ireland won 51-24, Rome; Ireland won 23-20, Belfast
2008: Ireland won 16-11, Dublin
2009: Ireland won 38-9, Rome
2010: Ireland won 29-11, Dublin
2011: Ireland won 13-11, Rome; Ireland won 36-6, Dunedin
2012: Ireland won 42-10, Dublin
2013: Italy won 22-15, Rome
2014: Ireland won 46-7, Dublin
2015: Ireland won 26-3, Rome; Ireland won 16-9, London
2016: Ireland won 58-15, Dublin
2017: Ireland won 63-10, Rome
2018: Ireland won 56-19, Dublin; Ireland won 54-7, Chicago

Biggest Wins:

Italy: Points: 37-29, 1997 Test, Dublin; 37-22, 1997 Test, Bologna; Margin: 37-22, 1997 Test, Bologna

Ireland: Points: 63-10, 2017 Six Nations; Margin: 61-6, 2003 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up

Individual Records In The Series:

Most Points In A Match: Italy 27 (Diego Dominguez 1997); Ireland 30 (Ronan O’Gara 2000)

Most Tries In A Match: Italy 2 (Paolo Vaccari 1997); Ireland 4 (Denis Hickie 2003)

Most Appearances – Ireland v Italy:

16 – Sergio Parisse
15 – Brian O’Driscoll
14 – Rory Best, Ronan O’Gara
13 – Martin Castrogiovanni, Alessandro Zanni
12 – Mauro Bergamasco, Gordon D’Arcy, John Hayes, Andrea Masi, Paul O’Connell, Salvatore Perugini, Alessandro Troncon
11 – Mirco Bergamasco, Marco Bortolami, Gonzalo Canale, Leonardo Ghiraldini, Luke McLean, Donncha O’Callaghan, Malcolm O’Kelly, Peter Stringer

Top Points Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

180 – Ronan O’Gara
96 – Diego Dominguez
74 – Jonathan Sexton
67 – David Humphreys
40 – Denis Hickie
37 – Paddy Jackson
36 – Paul Burke
35 – Keith Earls
30 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll

Top Try Scorers – Ireland v Italy:

8 – Denis Hickie
7 – Keith Earls
6 – Girvan Dempsey, Brian O’Driscoll
5 – Shane Horgan
4 – Tommy Bowe, John Kelly, CJ Stander, Andrew Trimble
3 – Craig Gilroy, Jamie Heaslip, Rob Henderson, Jordan Larmour, Ronan O’Gara, Paolo Vaccari

Italy – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Six Nations:

Lost 46-15 v England home (Six Nations)
Lost 56-19 v Ireland away (Six Nations)
Lost 34-17 v France away (Six Nations)
Lost 38-14 v Wales away (Six Nations)
Lost 29-27 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Lost 34-17 v Japan away (Summer Series)
Won 25-22 v Japan away (Summer Series)
Lost 54-7 v Ireland neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 28-17 v Georgia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 26-7 v Australia home (Autumn Series)
Lost 66-3 v New Zealand home (Autumn Series)
Lost 33-20 v Scotland away (Six Nations)
Lost 26-15 v Wales away (Six Nations)

Ireland – Form Guide From Start Of The 2018 Six Nations:

Won 15-13 v France away (Six Nations)
Won 56-19 v Italy home (Six Nations)
Won 37-27 v Wales home (Six Nations)
Won 30-25 v Scotland home (Six Nations)
Won 24-15 v England away (Six Nations)
Lost 18-9 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 26-21 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 20-16 v Australia away (Summer Series)
Won 54-7 v Italy neutral (Autumn Test)
Won 28-17 v Argentina home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 16-9 v New Zealand home (GUINNESS Series)
Won 57-14 v USA home (GUINNESS Series)
Lost 32-20 v England home (Six Nations)
Won 22-13 v Scotland away (Six Nations)

International Championship All-Time Records:

Points –
557 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
546 Jonny Wilkinson (England)
467 Stephen Jones (Wales)
406 Neil Jenkins (Wales)
403 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
388 Leigh Halfpenny (Wales)
380 Owen Farrell (England)
367 Jonathan Sexton (Ireland)
288 Gavin Hastings (Scotland)
286 Greig Laidlaw (Scotland)
270 David Humphreys (Ireland)
232 Paul Grayson (England)

Tries –
26 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
24 Ian Smith (Scotland)
22 Shane Williams (Wales)
19 George North (Wales)
18 Gareth Edwards (Wales)
18 Cyril Lowe (England)
18 Rory Underwood (England)

Caps –
67 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
65 Brian O’Driscoll (Ireland)
63 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
62 Rory Best (Ireland)
60 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
56 Mike Gibson (Ireland)
56 Gethin Jenkins (Wales)
55 Ross Ford (Scotland)
54 John Hayes (Ireland)
54 Jason Leonard (England)
53 Willie John McBride (Ireland)
53 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
51 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
51 Paul O’Connell (Ireland)
51 Martyn Williams (Wales)
50 Stephen Jones (Wales)
50 Philippe Sella (France)
50 Rory Underwood (England)
50 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)

Italy – Most-Capped Players:

136 Sergio Parisse
119 Martin Castrogiovanni
112 Marco Bortolami
109 Alessandro Zanni
106 Mauro Bergamasco
103 Andrea Lo Cicero
101 Leonardo Ghiraldini
101 Alessandro Troncon
95 Andrea Masi
89 Mirco Bergamasco
89 Luke McLean
86 Gonzalo Canale
83 Carlo Checchinato
83 Salvatore Perugini
81 Fabio Ongaro

Italy – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

983 Diego Dominguez
483 Stefano Bettarello
294 Luigi Troiani
260 Ramiro Pez
256 Mirco Bergamasco
245 Tommaso Allan
154 Luciano Orquera

Italy – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

25 Marcello Cuttitta
22 Paolo Vaccari
21 Carlo Checchinato
21 Manrico Marchetto
19 Alessandro Troncon
17 Mirco Bergamasco
17 Serafino Ghizzoni
17 Massimo Mascioletti

Ireland – Most-Capped Players:

133 Brian O’Driscoll
128 Ronan O’Gara
115 Rory Best
108 Paul O’Connell
105 John Hayes
98 Peter Stringer
95 Jamie Heaslip
94 Donncha O’Callaghan
92 Malcolm O’Kelly
88 Rob Kearney
86 Cian Healy
82 Gordon D’Arcy
82 Girvan Dempsey
80 Jonathan Sexton
74 Keith Earls
72 David Humphreys
72 Geordan Murphy
72 David Wallace
71 Eoin Reddan
70 Kevin Maggs
70 Andrew Trimble
69 Tommy Bowe
69 Mike Gibson
69 Conor Murray
67 Sean Cronin
67 Marcus Horan

Ireland – All-Time Leading Points Scorers:

1083 Ronan O’Gara
748 Jonathan Sexton
560 David Humphreys
308 Michael Kiernan
296 Eric Elwood
245 Brian O’Driscoll
217 Ollie Campbell
195 Paddy Jackson
158 Tom Kiernan
150 Tommy Bowe
145 Denis Hickie
140 Keith Earls

Ireland – All-Time Leading Try Scorers:

46 Brian O’Driscoll
30 Tommy Bowe
29 Denis Hickie
28 Keith Earls
21 Shane Horgan
19 Girvan Dempsey
18 Geordan Murphy
17 Brendan Mullin
17 Andrew Trimble
16 Ronan O’Gara
15 Kevin Maggs
15 Keith Wood
14 George Stephenson
13 Jamie Heaslip
13 Rob Kearney
13 Conor Murray
13 Jacob Stockdale
12 Keith Crossan
12 David Wallace
11 Alan Duggan
11 Simon Geoghegan

World Rugby All-Time Top Points Scorers:

1598 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
1246 Jonny Wilkinson (1179-England, 67-Lions)
1090 Neil Jenkins (1049-Wales, 41-Lions)
1083 Ronan O’Gara (Ireland)
1010 Diego Dominguez (27-Argentina, 983-Italy)
970 Stephen Jones (917-Wales, 53-Lions)
967 Andrew Mehrtens (New Zealand)
911 Michael Lynagh (Australia)
905 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
893 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
878 Matt Burke (Australia)
840 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
809 Chris Paterson (Scotland)

World Rugby All-Time Top Try Scorers:

67 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
64 David Campese (Australia)
60 Shane Williams (58-Wales, 2-Lions)
50 Rory Underwood (49-England, 1-Lions)
49 Doug Howlett (New Zealand)
47 Brian O’Driscoll (46-Ireland, 1-Lions)
46 Christian Cullen (New Zealand)
46 Joe Rokocoko (New Zealand)
46 Julian Savea (New Zealand)
44 Jeff Wilson (New Zealand)
41 Gareth Thomas (40-Wales, 1-Lions)
40 Chris Latham (Australia)

(Note: Daisuke Ohata scored 69 tries for Japan, but not all against major international opposition)

The ‘100 Caps’ Club:

148 Richie McCaw (New Zealand)
141 Brian O’Driscoll (133-Ireland, 8-Lions)
139 George Gregan (Australia)
136 Sergio Parisse (Italy)
134 Gethin Jenkins (129-Wales, 5-Lions)
132 Alun Wyn Jones (123-Wales, 9-Lions)
132 Keven Mealamu (New Zealand)
130 Ronan O’Gara (128-Ireland, 2-Lions)
129 Stephen Moore (Australia)
127 Victor Matfield (South Africa)
124 Bryan Habana (South Africa)
119 Martin Castrogiovanni (Italy)
119 Jason Leonard (114-England, 5-Lions)
118 Fabien Pelous (France)
118 Kieran Read (New Zealand)
118 Tony Woodcock (New Zealand)
117 Adam Ashley-Cooper (Australia)
116 Nathan Sharpe (Australia)
115 Rory Best (Ireland)
115 Merab Kvirikashvili (Georgia)
115 Paul O’Connell (108-Ireland, 7-Lions)
115 Florin Vlaicu (Romania)
112 Marco Bortolami (Italy)
112 Dan Carter (New Zealand)
112 Davit Kacharava (Georgia)
111 Ross Ford (110-Scotland, 1-Lions)
111 Philippe Sella (France)
111 John Smit (South Africa)
111 George Smith (Australia)
110 Stephen Jones (104-Wales, 6-Lions)
109 Jean de Villiers (South Africa)
109 Chris Paterson (Scotland)
109 Alessandro Zanni (Italy)
108 Sam Whitelock (New Zealand)
107 John Hayes (105-Ireland, 2-Lions)
107 Tendai Mtawarira (South Africa)
106 Mauro Bergamasco (Italy)
106 Catalin Fercu (Romania)
106 Owen Franks (New Zealand)
105 Sean Lamont (Scotland)
104 Martyn Williams (100-Wales, 4-Lions)
103 Matt Giteau (Australia)
103 Sekope Kepu (Australia)
103 Yuri Kushnarev (Russia)
103 Andrea Lo Cicero (Italy)
103 Ma’a Nonu (New Zealand)
103 Gareth Thomas (100-Wales, 3-Lions)
102 Stephen Larkham (Australia)
102 Percy Montgomery (South Africa)
101 David Campese (Australia)
101 Giorgi Chkhaidze (Georgia)
101 Leonardo Ghiraldini (Italy)
101 Alessandro Troncon (Italy)
101 Goncalo Uva (Portugal)
101 Vasco Uva (Portugal)
100 Valentin Calafeteanu (Romania)
100 Will Genia (Australia)
100 Jamie Heaslip (95-Ireland, 5-Lions)
100 Adam Jones (95-Wales, 5-Lions)
100 Mils Muliaina (New Zealand)